


a troublesome existence

by Skyuni123



Series: Grief and Grieving (Infinity War Ficlets) [3]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Exhaustion, First Kiss, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, MAJOR spoilers for Infinity War, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Post-Thor: Ragnarok (2017), Reunions, everyone's a little fucked up and that's okay, thruce
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-26
Updated: 2018-04-26
Packaged: 2019-04-28 04:38:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14441541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skyuni123/pseuds/Skyuni123
Summary: Bruce and Thor, in what is left of the world.-THIS CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS FOR INFINITY WAR, BE WARNED.





	a troublesome existence

The suit finally gives out after another couple of minutes of standing and watching Steve cry. Bruce sinks to his knees, scrabbling wildly with the release controls, and tumbles out onto the hard-packed dirt.

Everyone is in various stages of spinning out. Nat’s on the phone to someone, trying desperately to retrieve an answer that someone’s not willing to give. Steve is sobbing, hands fisted in the dirt. Rhodey seems to be slowly walking himself back from a panic attack, and Okoye looks furious.

But Bruce doesn’t feel it. Despite everything, the only person he wants to see right now is still here. He’d escaped the cull, he’d escaped everything. While he does miss Tony, the months he’d spent away from Earth had changed everything between them. There’s someone else he needs to see more.

_ Thor _ .

 

“Banner!” Thor skids to a halt in front of him and drops to his knees. “I thought I’d-”

 

The  _ lost you too  _ is lost in the frantic press of Thor’s lips against his. 

And hey, despite the fact that they’re both covered in blood, utterly filthy and sweaty and disgusting, it’s not actually that bad a first kiss.

 

Thor pulls away almost as quickly as he appeared, and immediately looks sheepish. “Sorry, Banner. I probably should have asked. Is the Hulk-”

 

“The Hulk’s fine.” Bruce says, dryly, feeling oddly buoyant despite the literal end of the literal world that’s happening around them. “He’s been quiet all day. I take it you’ve been doing some thinking since we saw each other last?”

 

“I couldn’t lose you as well. Not today.” Thor grabs him by the shoulders, fingers digging in slightly. It’s more of an anchor than anything else.

 

It hangs in the air between them. Bruce hadn’t seen Loki arrive in the Bifrost (??? and if that’s back, what else is?) and now he knows why. “Is your brother…-?”

 

“No.” Thor swallows heavily and shakes his head, his utter glee at initially seeing Bruce totally gone. “Thanos- I couldn’t stop-”

 

“It’s not your fault.” Bruce is insistent. He know what this feels like, to see circumstances spiral out of control and to feel responsible. He knows it in his bones. But this  _ isn’t  _ Thor’s fault. Not at all. 

 

“Mmm, really though?”

 

“Yes.” Somewhere in the depths of Bruce’s mind the Hulk snuffles and thinks ‘ _ idiot god’ _ , before sitting down in a corner, huffily. 

 

It is so wholeheartedly distressing to see a man with Thor’s stature shudder and collapse in front of him. Bruce finds existence so  _ troubling, _ sometimes. To see someone of Thor’s strength and good humor fall apart feels almost like a defeat.

 

“Come here.” He opens his arms, and feels an twinge of pain run up his spine as two-hundred pounds of god throws himself into the embrace.

 

There’s definitely a tree root digging into his back. For the purposes of the exercise, he’s going to ignore it, though he’ll definitely be feeling it in the morning. He’s not in his twenties any more. 

 

Thor runs warmer than any human that Bruce knows. It’s probably something to do with the lightning that he can call forth from within, the kinetic energy rushing about inside his veins. But now, it feels like comfort. 

 

Maybe  _ Bruce  _ is the comforter for once.

 

The thought is almost whimsical, considering whatever ( _ on earth)  _ is going on with their relationship. 

 

“Over a thousand years on Asgard with none of this nonsense.” Thor huffs, into the side of Bruce’s neck. “And then, look! I tangle once with Midgard and I lose my entire family and my people in the space of six years.”

 

“Do you regret it?” He’s not even sure why he asks. It feels a little like the Hulk’s influence - removing boundaries, causing trouble - but it could just be all him. He strokes a hand down Thor’s back, feels the tears in his armour, and the patches of heat-worn bruises beneath. Gods, they’d come so  _ close _  to the end, together ...

 

“Of course I do not regret it.” Thor twitches beneath his touch, but doesn’t move away. There’s dampness on his neck now and it’s not the good kind. He’s not completely sure, but he thinks that Thor is crying, and gods, doesn’t that hurt? “I just wish… the hands of fate had swung differently.” 

 

“Did… the entire ship go down? Thanos… he didn’t slaughter everyone, did he?” He honestly can’t remember what had happened when the tyrant had stormed the ship. It’s too lost in a sea of head injuries and grief.

 

“They got away. Brunnhilde and Korg led an evacuation.” Thor replies, dully. “We still lost too many people.”

 

“But Asgard is not gone, Thor! Your people still exist.” It is bizarre to him that the fear he feels lies mostly in the fate of the Asgardians. He cares for Earth, truly, he does, but, scientifically speaking, Earth will rise again, even with Thanos’ meddling. The people of Asgard are far less lucky.

 

“For how long?”

 

Bruce doesn’t know, and that, truly, is the worst pain of it all.

 

He doesn’t know how long they have until Thanos culls again, how long they have until everything starts breaking down, how long he and Thor have for this thing to happen (whatever  _ this thing  _ is). There’s no doubt that something else is going to go wrong.

 

But he doesn’t despair in it, can’t let the waves of anguish and grief wash over him. There’s not enough time for that. The universe has had it in for him ever since he was born, and he knows that it will soon take away even more people that he loves.

 

He’s not going to let it ruin this too.

 

He tightens his arms more firmly around Thor’s back, runs a hand up the back of his neck and through his close-cropped hair, so unlike the Thor he used to know. They’ve all changed over the last few years, perhaps Bruce the most of all. 

 

Death doesn’t seem quite like the drawcard it once was, and he’s not going to let the threat of it stop him this time.

 

_'Idiot Banner',_ the Hulk thinks, but bristles a little, and gets to his feet.   


**Author's Note:**

> thor and bruce are still the mcu's best romantic couple
> 
> hit me up on the [ tumblr ](http://villainousfilmmaker.tumblr.com)


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